Here are some more letters and photos we received from satisfied owners
Dear Phyllis and Patches,
Just wanted to give you an update on Tucker - and to tell you how pleased we are with him. - and to show off one of his ducks! 
We started Tucker's formal training with Jerry Simmons in Sept 01 and he went on his first hunt in early December. He did great and continues to love fetching those ducks! We are starting field trials in February.
He's a wonderful dog - very social and well disciplined!
Thanks for everything!
Kent and Kathy Erickson
Dear Deep Run,
We just wanted to send you an update on Griffin, our Hombre/Nugget puppy. Griffin is now almost 8 months old and is up to about 80 lbs! We've been through both puppy and basic obedience schools and Griffin passed with flying colors. He's mastered the basic obedience commands and we hope to take him through an advanced class in the spring. Additionally, Griffin is proving to be an amazing retriever as well. Although we haven't done any formal training, Griffin will perform multiple retrieves and will take a line from us on dummies (or tennis balls) that he didn't see. We've also taken him out swimming a few times and he appears to
completely love it. The only drawback is that we can't keep him out of the water now! He's a tenacious retriever and will keep
searching and searching until he finds his object. He's developed a special fondness for tennnis balls, and now "playing ball" is! a!
big part of his day.
He's adapted well to our hectic life and occasionally accompanies us to our Rescue Squad station where everyone loves him. (He's inherited Hombre's patented "roll-over-on-my-back-so-everyone-can-rub-my-belly move!) The only glitch so far is his fondness
for carrying our 8 month old kitten around...the cat isn't too wild about riding in his mouth, but they're working it out.
Anyway, we've included a couple pictures of Griffin at our station (See picture) and "helping" us rake leaves (See picture). Ok, we raked and he sat in the middle of the pile. We're completely happy with our wonderful puppy and have recommended your incredible Labs to everyone we
know who's looking for a dog. Thanks for a great puppy! We'll keep you updated as Griffin expands his accomplishments!
Sincerely,
Chris Lee, Lyndsey Atherton and Griffin
JMUResq2@aol.com
LynEMTRN@aol.com
November 14, 2001
To everyone at Deep Run,
We are very pleased with our new arrival! He is everything we had hoped for and more. We chose to name him "Deep Run Rita's
Little Elvis" and he is doing great. His temperment is terrific and he is our 3 year old sons new "shadow". Elvis is moving along very
nicely with his house breaking and is sleeping though the night (most of the time). When I picked him up at the airport, he was
awake and lively and rearing to go. He had his first visit to the vet last Friday and they were very impressed, as are we, with his
health, temperment, looks and the great puppy package that you put together. We thank you again for a wonderful little guy that
just loves to retrieve, swim and chase birds! We were a little concerned about our timing as we just brought home our new baby girl,
who was born on Sunday, but Elvis is such a great little guy that it is not any trouble at all. We wish all of you the best for the holiday season and the coming new year.
Sincerely,
Glenn and Jennifer Farmer (with Jordan and Gracen)
Tue, 13 Nov 2001
From: "George W. Watkins, CPA"
To: deeprunfarm@deeprunretrievers.com
Hello Phyllis and Jack,
My wife and I would like to express our delight with (Lucy) the chocolate female from the most recent Teddy and Annie litter. She is
a bright, smart and a beautiful lab.She has a great temperament. She practically is making it through the nite without waking us to
go outside. She is a great companion. She is retrieving from about 30 - 40 feet. Most of the time she retrieves directly to me except
when she is tired and decides that we have had enough and it's time to go in.
You couldn't have picked a better lab for us. I was in the local Petsmart store shopping and socializing Lucy. She wasn't at all
intimidated by the other dogs. She held her own. We have taken her to shopping centers with us to socialize her people can't believe
how well she does around people. Alot of people asked us where we got her. I gave them your number.
We are going to be at the retriever test this weekend in Culpepper and see if Lucy can pass her beginning retriever test. We hope to
see you there.
We will be in touch. Thanks so much.
George and Andrea Watkins.
Update on my Elvis/Rita Puppy
Tue, 30 Oct 2001
From: Jennifer Eger
To: Deep Run Farm
Hello Deep Run Family,
It has been awhile since I have given you an update on my puppy, Mayzee. We have been
busy training and preparing for the Obedience and Agility rings and it was worth it.
Mayzee went into the Obedience ring for the first time on Sunday, October 14, in
Coraopolis. We were showing in Novice B against some very tough competition. My wonderful
dog qualified her first time in the ring. I was ecstatic to say the least. The judge said he has
never seen the speed she came with for the recall. Most dogs know they are in the show
setting and some of the speed thing goes away. Our heel pattern was also a rapidly paced
exercise. You even slow slightly and Mayzee tries to invent her own routine.
Hoping to get her into at least two more Obedience Trials this year to see if we can have
the CD by Christmas.
As far as agility goes, she is just liking that way too much. Some times she is right there
doing everything I want her to do and then the next minute she wants to socialize with every
dog on site. We have gone to a couple of Show and Go's, and she was perfect one minute and
running laps the next. I think her debut in the agility ring will not come until Spring. There
are not many trials left in our area right now and I think that I would like to try her at an
indoor venue first.
Needless to say, we are very much in love with our Deep Run Puppy and she has met or
exceeded every expectation we had for her. Thanks again for the opportunity to get this
puppy. She has endless energy and is as HAPPY as she can be. You might say she is spoiled
with love, but that has not harmed her work ethic one bit.
Will keep you informed as we continue our showing career that we have now started. Once
the CD in Obedience is completed, she should be ready to go right into CDX competition as
she already knows most of the Open Exercises.
Take care and talk to you soon.
Jennifer and Denny Eger
Hi,
This is from Hanna, she is a daughter of Rider and Annie born on Feb. 26, 2000. On October 7, 2001, at the Mount Vernon Dog Club Obedience Trial, Hanna earned her third leg of her CD (Companion Dog Title). She has done extremely well in her pursuit of
this title, taking 2 first place with qualifying scores. She will now pursue her CDX as well as her WC title.
Thanks for such as wonderful and versatile dog!
Donna Brocht
28 September, 2001
Jaeger is wonderful
Hi everyone at Deep Run!
Have been meaning to write sooner, we are so thrilled with Jaeger. He was
just a year old on September 11th and is the offspring of Maggie and Elvis.
Everyone who comes in contact with him just falls in love with him. He has
been hunting and has done a great job with minimal training. Shortly after
Jaeger came to live with us, I was diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma
(Malt Lymphoma of the stomach) and he has been the best thing for me. We
took some pictures recently so I will send you some pictures - we think he
favors his dad. He is tall and weighs about 81 lbs, the vet thinks he is
absolutely perfect and he should know because he has three labs.
Thank you for matching us up with Jaeger, he is perfect for us!
Karen A. Davies
Sunday, 15 July 2001
Thanks for a wonderful friend
Hello! We told you that we would send you pictures from 
time to time of our Deep Run puppy. First, we want to
say thank you for giving us such a loving puppy. As
soon as we got him in the car for that first ride home,
we instantly fell in love with him. After two weeks of
playing with him and spending time with him, he really
has become an integral part of our lives. So thank you
again for providing us with the most beautiful, playful,
well-mannered (most of the time!) pup. We receive many
compliments and have referred you at least three times!
We will stay in touch in the future, and will definitely
be coming back when Micah is a little older...we are
very interested in enrolling him in some training
classes and perhaps some retrieving work.
Enjoy the attached pictures!
Always,
Betsy, Brad, and Micah Woods
3 Mar 2001
Hi Guys,
Attached is a picture of "Doc" our pup from Tardy and Tinker's litter of last
year. He is a great house dog and the birds in the picture are some of the 45
pheasants and Chukars he flushed and retrieved this season. This is "Doc" at
approximately 1 year back in November. He retrieved all but 1 bird to hand.
He flushed another one on the way out to that one and retrieved the second
bird.
He is everything we had hoped for and would probably be even more if he had a
trainer who was smarter. (That's me, not Donna.)
Please do not hesitate to use us as a reference. I plan on attending some
local NAHRA events this spring to see if my training was good enough to enter
him.
Thanks for everything.
Thom Burke
PS. I need another bottle of Glyco-flex and a 5 lb. bag of Missing Link. My credit card should be on file if not email me.
11/25/00
Dear Jack , Phyllis and Patchez.
One week ago Sunny finishes quarantine and came in our house. Sunny was very fine , and became friendly as soon as with Mariel and
Elie.
Sunny is making friends with in all of the dogs of our neighborhood.
Also, Sunny is very gentle to a person, became a favorite right away.
In the house , it seems that Sunny is living with us for long time.
We are very happy that we can get such a wonderful Lab .
Thank you really.
Thank you for having an interest in field trial of Japan.
I report to you about field trial of Japan.
In Japan field trial is a minor game very much.
They use Pointer and Setter generally.
Laburador is very rare.
Also, the athletic meet is carried out about 2-3 times in a year.
Next meeting is not decided yet.
The participant is about 20 sets.
It is the almost same way as an actual hunting.
I try to ask to our trainer about the game rule , because I do not know
well.
And, I also report to you.
Best regards,
Akira & Michiko Nakata
mariel@mx3.mesh.ne.jp
23 October 2000
Dick and Phyllis,
I'd like to thank you for the pleasure of owning one of your dogs.
Deep Run Keypaha Katy completed her JH on October 22,2000 at the age of 14
months at the Bryan-College Station Retriever club event. "Kip" has been a
pleasure to train and work with; your efforts in producing a quality hunting
retriever lineage is very evident. I passed her on 5 attempts....and I have
to admit that the first attempt(her only non-qualifying score) was strictly
MY mistake in not knowing the complete Hunting Test rules. The Hunting tests
down here in Texas have not been easy, as only 40-45% of the entrants are
getting qualifying scores. All of this success from a handler who was 17
years between dog titles!!!
I've promised that I won't breed Kip until she reaches the SH level or
higher....but the offers have been pouring in since her dominant performance
in the rice fields of El Campo two weeks ago. I'm interested in artificial
insemination and would like to meet you or Phyliss if y'all get out to
Houston or College Station. Your kennel is a tribute to GREAT LABRADORS!!!
P.S. Keypaha is a river in central South Dakota that meandered through my
grandfather's pheasant operation near Winner, SD. It is a Sioux Indian word
meaning "fast runner".
Steven D. Wright
3019 Fresco Wells
Katy, Texas 77449
To: Deep Run Farm
Attn: Dr.Phyllis Giroux and Mr. Jack Jagoda
From: PSAPIERCE@AOL.COM, Lisa Rutledge
Subject: Lily Wins Field Trial
Date: October 23, 2000
Deep Run Water Lily, handled by Lisa Rutledge, won the annual Rolling Rock
Club Field Trial on October 22, 2000 in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Lily is two
years old. Lily's name will be inscribed on a silver trophy that dates to the
1930's and is on permanent display at Rolling Rock Club. Lily's win was by a
substantial margin over the second place contender. In the 1999 Rolling Rock
Club Field Trial, Lily placed third.
We believe that Lily's win pushes Deep Run Farm's name further in the
forefront in the Ligonier area where Sally Sullivan's Labrador retrievers
have long predominated. Sally is a former Ligonier resident and summers in
the area.
We just can't wait to pick up our new Deep Run puppy from the Elvis-Maggie
litter on November 9th. Hope to see you then.
Best regards,
Lisa Pierce Rutledge
Monday, 18 September, 2000
HI JACK AND PHYLLIS,
NV STATE SR PUPPY 3RD PLACE. MAX WAS 7 MONTHS 1DAY
COMPETING AGAINST DOGS UP TO 1 YR. TOMORROW MORNING I TAKE HIM TO BILL
SARGENTI AT CL2 WHERE HE WILL STAY IN TRAINING FOR 4-6 MONTHS - THEN ITS DERBY
TIME FOR US. HOPE ALL IS WELL AND THE PHOTO COMES UP FOR YOU.
JJ RENO
Tuesday, 25 April 2000
Dear Mr. Jagoda and Dr. Giroux
My wife and I purchased a pup from Drakes Creek Kennel out of
Rider and Meg. A sleek female. Her name is Drakes Creek Sierra Rider, we call her Sarah. She is our second dog the other
being a 16 month old male, named Remington. Yesterday, April 29th, we entered in the Purchase Area Hunting Retriever Club
HRC licensed hunt. She performed wonderfully, and drew compliments from the Judges, Marshal, a pro-trainer and the gallery.
I would like to add that this was my first time handling, we did the training (with the help of Wolter's books), until last week
Sarah had only ever retrieved one duck, and had never seen a pigeon.
We tained her 5 days from last Saturday to Friday on pigeons and Ducks on Friday. We were told that the land retrieve
would be in a mowed field, ankle to mid calf, very very light cover. We tained on grass lots in parks and next to the High
school. When we got to the test the grass was knee high, lage clumps of fescue, weeds, and broom sage. Sarah is only knee
high, she just turned six months old. My wife and I thought hold have told us that it had been mowed last year.
Sarah ran sixth, every dog had trouble with the first mark. The bird fell in medium weed and gass but between the dog and
the fall was very tall and large clumps of fescue, we had a young bird boy(he did a good job for his age) the marks cem out
low. Sarah took a straight linr to the bird over ran by only a foot or two and a straight line back. The second retriever was
sort of down hill, even taller heavier cover with a tree line behind it. every dog in the test including some large one year and
over, over ran the mark and had to really use ther nose to find the bird. I was very nervous, Sarah not being used to cover,
would she stay out and hunt? You should have seen her. She stayed in pretty close to the area of the fall, after hunting for a
moment she stopped and noticed the bird boy as if to say who are you and what are you doing out here, then she turned and
looked at me. My heart stopped, I just knew that if we made eye contact she would come in, I looked to my left, the direction
of the bird and she quartering in that direction, she had the bird. We were so proud of her.
The water test was anti-climatic, they were short simple retrieves. On Friday she had already done some 75 to 85 yard
retrieves.
She has a lot of heart, the ducks we used on Friday were over half her size. She doesn't always deliver to hand yet. She returns to heel passing within a foot of your right and heeling on the left, sometimes she tosses the bird on your feet as she
passes by. She is as smart as a whip, We are sure that Within a week she will always hold the bird until we take it. Her drive
and enthusiasm are wonderful, she looks like her Daddy in the pictures that we have seen of him. We told everyone who her
Daddy is.
Next Weekend she will be at another hunt. This fall we are going to put her in AKC Hunts and NAHRA.
Sincerely
Steve and Dotty Ward
and
Sarah
(update letter)
10/24/00
Hello,
Sarah is such a terrific dog!! Our AKC Club
held it's fall hunt this past weekend. Sarah ran in the Junior stake for
the first time. Everyone there thought the Judges set up some pretty tough
test for a junior dog, and a lot of the dogs did have some difficulty on the
marks, but not Sarah. She aced every mark on every test!!!! No
problem for our little Super Girl. We had different Judges each day and
Sarah drew compliments from both sets on her abilities. Even people in the
Gallery were asking all sorts of questions about her. So she really made
an impression. As she always does. Every test we run her in, she
draws compliments and questions from everyone. We could not be more proud
of her. Our hearts just sore with every compliment and question about who
she is out of. We could not be more willing to tell them who her Sire and
Dam is.
This spring she will get her Junior AKC title and
also her UKC Seasoned Title.
Dotty
March 13, 2000
Sammy and Buddy letters
Dear Buddy,
Happy birthday to us!!
I'm sorry to be late with this, but it has been a long hunting season
that Mac says is about over. We hunted ducks from Sept 29th until
the Monday after Thanksgiving when it snowed and the ponds froze up
and Mac said it got too cold for a skinny dog and an old hunter. It
was a long season and a great season and I retrieved for Mac and his
friends over 200 ducks.
There is one pond that Mac and I go to where there is a bent over
tree out in the water that Mac hides by. I learned to climb up on a
branch to get out of the water while we are waiting for the
ducks. Mac took my picture and is sending it to Dr Phyllis. He
calls it "A black cheetah waiting in her perch". I am wearing my camo
vest that helps keep me warm.
We have started hunting pheasants now which is a lot of fun. I have
learned from Brad (my teacher) and Mac, to stay close and hunt for
birds where Mac points with his arms. One time when we were hunting
with a large group of hunters and some "slow" dogs I retrieved 17 of
the 28 pheasants the group shot and the other hunters wanted to know
about Deep Run dogs and how come Mac had decided to have me sent from
Virginia to South Dakota. Just lucky for both of us I guess.
This summer I went back to school with Brad and finally won a big
ribbon at one of those trails. I have learned to go where Mac or
Brad point with their arms to look for birds that I don't see fall.
Let me know how you are doing.
Your obedient sister,
Sammie "fastest lab in the west"
Dear Sammie-
My life is pretty exciting. I am spending the weekend with Jack and Phyllis,
my dad, and some other pals in Memphis doing exhibitions at the Ducks
Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival. I also did several TV clips for an Outdoor
Show about puppy training and health care.
I really love my work and love to make Jack and Phyllis happy. Phyllis says
she never hoped to have a dog nearly a good as my dad, but thinks I might
make it. That really makes me proud and I work even harder to learn and do
things well.
Jack says the reports on all my brothers and sisters are so exceptional that
he is going to repeat our breeding this fall. More brothers and sisters for
us!
Do good at school, and watch for me on TV.
Buddy
Dear Buddy,
It has been a long time since I wrote and a lot has happened.
I went with Brad and 8 others dogs to Spokane and for about a month
we worked hard. I learned a lot. I heel real well. Mac says he
never had a pup that stayed at heel without being reminded every 5
steps. They had real ducks to retrieve out there and one of them
dove when I chased it and so I dove too and got it. Brad says only
my tail was showing when I grabbed the duck.
Now we are home and I am back living with Mac and Helen. ( It is much
better sleeping in a sofa chair in an air conditioned house than in a
kennel.)
Last Saturday Brad (my teacher) and I and some of Brad's dogs went to
something called a "trial". There were a lot of dogs there and we
were supposed to retrieve while people called judges marked down just
how well we did.
When it was my turn, I went straight out after the first one and came
right back just as Brad had had me doing. However, on the second one
when they threw it, it landed behind a long pile of big hay bales. I
went straight to where the line ended at the bales and looked and
looked, but didn't think to go around the bales and so I didn't hold
up the family honor that day. (Mac now has me going around the
bales in the field by our front yard and so that won't happen again)
On Sunday, I made a perfect first retrieve, but after the second was
thrown, and before Brad sent me, someone at another test site shot a
gun and threw a bird. Brad could see that I was confused as to which
one I was supposed to get and even though he lined me up for the
right one, I went about 20 yards in the right direction and then went
for the mark where the gun had been shot.
I hope you are holding up the family honor better than I.
Mac says only 20 days until we hunt doves and geese and he sounds
excited so I guess it might be fun.
Your very obedient sister,
Sammie
(Deep Run Miller's Samantha) (my official name) (not yet
famous)
Dear Sammie
Phyllis & Jack keep saying I am really special. I am doing nice little
doubles, spectacular long marks, lining out about 200 yards, and learning to
stop and cast.
I went to a NAHRA event last weekend and aced everything, collecting my first
2 ribbons. Jack & Phyllis say I probably won't run any more trials until I'm
ready for Intermediate and Senior, whatever that is.
I will be able to drive to Wisconsin with my Dad and Jack & Phyllis next
week, we are going to the Ducks Unlimited Festival at Oshkosh. I like those
shows a lot, I've already been to one in Memphis, one in Pennsylkvania, and
one in Washington DC.
If you're not too far away, come and visit me in Oshkosh.
Buddy
Dear Buddy,
I'VE BEEN HUNTING!!!
Mac and I have been hunting.
First we hunted doves which are little birds that you can get almost
the whole bird in your mouth. I learned that I have to sit still
when the doves are coming so they will not get scared and will fly
close to us. This was tough as I get excited when Mac picks up his
gun. I learned to watch which way Mac was pointing the gun so I
could see where they fall and go pick them up. I found a lot of
doves and Mac says I have a good nose because doves don't give off a
lot of smell.
Yesterday Mac and I went duck hunting. We walked out in water that
had weeds in it, but I didn't have to swim because it was not too
deep. Mac had a sack of duck statutes that he calls decoys and he
put them in the water and then we hid in the weeds. Mac talked to
the ducks telling them it was safe or something and they came to join
the decoys. I had to watch real close to see which way the gun was
pointed when he shot as they came from all directions. He only
shoots boy ducks with green heads and sometimes girl ducks would land
on the water if they were alone and Mac would talk to them. They
weren't scared of Mac, but when I tried to talk to them they flew
away.
Then some geese came. Mac shot one and when I went over to get it,
it was BIG! I couldn't get my mouth around it and had to drag it by
the wing.
When we were all done, Mac started to get the decoys and put them
back in the bag. After he got the first one, I went and got all the
rest of them for him to put in the bag. Mac was very happy that he
didn't have to go get the decoys, but he is worried that I might get
them tomorrow before we are done hunting. He says we will work hard
on teaching me when to pick them up and when to leave them alone.
In training Mac is throwing 3 bumpers at one time and I always
remember where they fall. (I remember better than he does sometimes).
Mac says we will go hunting every day now so this will be a lot of
fun.
Your obedient sister,
Sammie (retriever of ducks and decoys)
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